Tailgate Date
by merwholock4ever
Summary: It's the weekend before graduation and the stress levels are high. Hiccup plans something special for Astrid to deal with the stress. One shot. Enjoy! Modern AU


Hey there! So this is a little one shot that popped into my head and I had to write it. I really hope you enjoy it! XD

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Astrid walked through the dark forest. There wasn't a hint of civilization anywhere. No artificial lights; no city sounds. Nothing but the sound of leaves rustling and the songs of the crickets. She wasn't scared or worried by this darkness at all. She knew what she was doing.

She continued down the nature trail she knew by heart till she came to a clearing. It was calm, tranquil, and existed on a cliff overlooking Berk. In the middle of this clearing, the 1st quarter moon revealed a pickup truck. It was a two seater cab with a fairly decent size bed. Astrid smiled for she recognized the old white truck to belong to Stoick, Hiccup's dad. She took a few steps further but began to notice something lacking: the driver. No lights were on in the truck; no movement could be seen against the dotted sky.

Astrid pulled out her phone and looked at the text message she had received earlier that evening. Her blue eyes squinted against the bright light that the phone produced as she hissed in slight pain.

 **Meet me at the clearing at 10. XD**

She then looked at the time on her phone and saw it was five past ten. _Where is he?_ She walked toward the cab of the truck to see if he was sitting in it waiting for her, but there wasn't anyone. She walked toward the tail of the truck, looking out into the forest. She began to worry that maybe something had happened to him.

"Hiccup?" she called out worried.

"Boo!"

Astrid jumped a mile as she screamed in fright. She looked behind her to see Hiccup sitting in the bed of the truck laughing. Astrid quickly changed her frightened face. Her nose crinkled as her lips formed a firm and tense circular shape while she squinted menacingly at Hiccup. "That wasn't funny."

"It was a little," Hiccup nodded. She continued to stare at him angrily. "Come on, Astrid. You get me every time. I was bound to get you at least once."

"So you set this all up to scare me?" Astrid placed her hands on her hips.

"Nope," Hiccup smiled as he shook his head. "I just seemed like the perfect opportunity."

"Then why did you want me to meet you here?" Astrid gestured with her hands at the clearing before crossing her arms over her chest suspiciously.

"Come and see," Hiccup pointed to the tailgate.

Astrid cocked an eyebrow before she began to walk over. As she did, Hiccup moved over to the tailgate and opened it up. He gently set it down before moving to the side and asking, "What do you think?"

Astrid looked inside the bed and gasped. The bed of the truck had been converted into a temporary camp site. There were several blankets covering the length of the bed, a large cooler in one corner, a camp light in the other, and pillows lining the back. "What is-what's all this for?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I figured I'd surprise you."

"Why?" Astrid looked at him confused.

"Is it against the law for me to have a nice quiet date with you?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid began to blush slightly. She knew Hiccup could be corny and cliché with his dates but this was different. This was on the brink of cliché and yet it still had Hiccup's twist to it. It was downright romantic to her. "No, I guess not."

"Well then," Hiccup held out his hand. "Would you care to join me milady?"

Astrid's grin got wider as he bowed slightly to her. She curtsied as she took his hand. "Gladly." Hiccup helped her up into the bed of the truck. Before she crawled to the back, she took her shoes off as to avoid getting leaves and dirt in the blankets. When she sat on the blankets, she didn't feel the expected pain of bone hitting metal. "Did you pad this?"

"That I did," Hiccup's eyes sparkled in the moonlight. "Why be uncomfortable on metal when you have a roll of foam in the garage that needs to be used?"

"So," Astrid crawled toward the back of the bed and got under the blankets. "What do you have planned?"

"A late night picnic under the stars and maybe an unexpected outdoors sleepover?"

"Oh! A sleepover huh?" Astrid nodded her head. "You know I'm not that kind of girl."

Hiccup turned and looked at Astrid slightly confused, that is until she saw her playful grin and half shut eyes. He blushed slightly at her meaning. "You never know what the night will bring."

"That is very true."

Hiccup turned toward the cooler. He opened it and brought out two canned sodas, two homemade sandwiches, a small container of grapes, and two vanilla pudding cups. "I would have brought marshmallows to roast over a fire but then we'd be spotted by the rangers and they'd kick us out for lighting a fire."

"You do know there is probably camping equipment that could let you do that."

"I know," Hiccup sighed. "Guess I ruined everything." He dramatically slid his hand down his face as he pretended to cry. He looked up at Astrid's laughing, smiling himself. He loved it when she laughed for it made the world seem so perfect to him.

"Shut up and eat you drama king," she grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him down so that he was no longer sitting on his knees.

"I'm the drama king and not the drama queen," Hiccup raised his eyebrows. "I don't know if that's good or bad."

"Shut up," Astrid rolled her eyes.

The two ate their late night meal as they continued to talk and banter back and forth. Once they were done, Hiccup laid down with his hands behind his head. Astrid looked at him as he starred up at the stars and decided to join. She got close to him in order for her to lay her head on his right shoulder, causing him to move that arm so that he wrapped his arm around her. Astrid placed her hands on her stomach as the two starred in silence at the sky.

"This is perfect," Astrid broke the silence.

"I'm glad you liked it," Hiccup smiled. He turned his head to look at her and saw that her face was slightly scrunched as if thinking. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Astrid shook her head. "I was just thinking where I would be right now if I didn't know you."

"That's a weird thing to think isn't it?" Hiccup wondered.

"I don't know. Maybe it is. But think about it; if I didn't run into you-"

"Literally," Hiccup chuckled.

Astrid smiled as she chuckled with him. "Yeah literally. I had bruises for a week."

"Me too!" The two chuckled a bit more at their first meeting.

"But seriously," Astrid calmed herself. "If I didn't decide to take that short cut around the English department freshman year, going full speed, I wouldn't have met you. I wouldn't have such a great friend; have someone I could be myself around; be on this amazing date! I'd be in some stupid restaurant with my softball team making some waitress' life miserable."

"I'd probably be in my room playing a video game with Toothless hogging the bed like the bed hog he is," Hiccup nodded.

Astrid turned on her side as she looked directly at Hiccup. "So what really spawned this amazing idea of yours?"

"Everything's been so crazy with preparing for graduation that I was getting more stressed than anything. I needed some time alone and away from our impending future. And from what I observed, you needed to get away too."

Astrid smiled at him. "Impending future. Definitely seems like it. It just seems like we were in junior high yesterday."

"I know. I don't know about you, but I'm scared and excited to graduate. Who knows what's on the horizon for us."

"I completely understand," Astrid nodded. "The past few days have made that very clear. However, I know everything will be ok as long as I have you nearby."

Hiccup turned to look at Astrid again. Her smiled occupied her face as her blues eyes looked at his green eyes. "Couldn't have said it better myself." He then leaned towards her and gently rubbed his nose against hers.

When he pulled away, he saw that Astrid's smile was even bigger. Astrid then decided to close the gap between them and gently kiss him on the lips. "That was for being your adorable self," she said, quickly followed by a light punch to the arm. "That was for leading me on there for a minute."

"Really?" Hiccup smiled mischievously. "How about this for leading you on?" Hiccup's hand quickly grabbed Astrid by the waist and began to tickle her. She twisted and squirmed a few times, laughing in the process, until she called for Hiccup to stop.

Respecting her demand, he stopped. The two looked at each other as they caught their breath. Astrid quickly realized that her squirming had put her directly beneath Hiccup, who had one hand on each side of her head to keep him propped up above her. Astrid waited for him to come closer and kiss her, but he didn't. Instead he rolled back over to her left.

"So you're going to end the night like that?" Astrid cocked an eyebrow.

"Maybe" Hiccup shrugged. Suddenly, he was just slightly over her, smiling gently. "Or maybe not." Taking his time to appreciate the view before him, Hiccup took his hand and brushed her blonde bangs out of her face. He then ran his finger down her nose and tapped it causing Astrid to giggle at his light antics which in turn made him smile. Hiccup then began to trace the outline of her face several times before stopping at the chin, taking her face in his hand, tilting it slightly towards him, and gently kissing her. Astrid, in no time, melted into the kiss.

When the two finally pulled apart, Astrid smiled up at Hiccup. "That's more like it."

"I'm glad you're happy milady," Hiccup grinned like an idiot.

"Oh. I'm not quite there yet." Astrid rose her hands towards his face and tucked some of his auburn hair behind his ear before grabbing Hiccup behind the neck, pulling him towards her once again.

When the sun peaked over the trees, it illuminated the two sleeping side by side. Astrid was snuggled close to Hiccup's body, both in semi-fetal position. Hiccup's hand was entwined with Astrid's, who had pulled them up to her chest. Their hair was a bit messed up but their faces were relaxed, content, and had a small hint of a smile on them.

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I hoped you enjoyed it. It's up to your interpretation to what happened that night. I'm not going to confirm or deny anything. XD


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